The 10 Commandments

King George and the Ducky
I remember when I discovered VeggieTales. It was a revelation.

I was in my first year as a pastor. I was a grown man, a fully-formed adult. We didn’t have any kids yet. But we had these VHS tapes (yes, this was before DVD players) in our church library with talking vegetables that told Bible stories. So I thought I should watch one. And I was hooked!

Exodus 20:16, Acts4:32-5:11 The Ten Commandments: Thou Shalt Not be like Ananias and Sapphira

Positive Church Headlines?
Would you want to be a part of a church where this sort of thing could happen?

First Community Church of Capital City started a new program of support for the poor and down on their luck. It was a great program, and really made a difference in people's lives, while at the same time raising the profile of the church in the community. Initial giving to the program was generous and strong.

A Tale of Two Libraries
I went to seminary at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. That’s in Deerfield, IL, which is a northern suburb of Chicago. Just down the road from us was Northwestern University, in Evanston.
While I was there, one of the things that struck me as ironic was the contrast between the two school libraries.

Back in the winter of 1997, I was a senior in seminary when Beth and I were invited to spend a weekend at Pleasant Valley Church with the possibility of becoming their pastor. I was interviewed by the search team, spent time with the consistory, and preached on Sunday morning. We stayed with a farming couple—Herman and Shirley. He was an elder.

Does This Still Happen?
It’s one of the iconic scenes in American cinema: Indiana Jones stands before a golden statue on a stone pedestal. He wants the statue, but he knows that the pedestal is booby trapped. There is a pressure switch, set to the precise weight of the statue. So Indy takes out a bag of sand, estimates the weight of the statue, pulls a handful of sand out of the bag, and then exchanges the one for the other.

Culture War
Most people have feelings and secrets they keep to themselves… On occasion, however, they may unload their innermost thoughts on a stranger they'll never see again. Capitalizing on that phenomenon--and sensing a shift in U. S. values--two [researchers set out to explore the American psyche in the early ‘90s].